After spending a number of household summers on Patmos within the japanese Aegean, not removed from the Turkish coast, Maria Lemos had had sufficient.
Lemos, founding father of the Rainbowwave showroom and Mouki Mou idea shops, has all the time beloved the style lovers’ island, which is dotted with personal houses and hyper-styled leases, however she was additionally stressed and needed to expertise the island in a brand new, extra intimate, method.
So when Pagostas, a guesthouse inbuilt 1597 and owned by the monastery of St. John the Theologian, got here up at public sale, Lemos and her husband Gregoris Kambouroglou jumped.
They took a protracted lease on the property in Chora, the island’s capital, which is dominated by the 11th century monastery. For hundreds of years the monastery has been a Christian and Greek Orthodox pilgrimage web site because it was the place the place St. John is alleged to have written his Gospel and the Ebook of Revelation.
Though Lemos and her husband by no means got down to develop into hoteliers, they fell in love with the place and thought, why not?
“We each love internet hosting folks and had already determined to spend extra of our lives in Patmos. It’s one thing we each actually needed — though we didn’t notice on the time how a lot work it was,” says Lemos, who’s Greek by start and who grew up between Athens and London.
A view from the rooftop terrace at Pagostas.
Their undertaking additionally had a wider function.
“The home belongs to the monastery, and that was probably the most fascinating half for us,” says Lemos. “We’re right here doing one thing that’s really not for monetary acquire. It’s extra a labor of affection and a method of giving again to the neighborhood.”
Kambouroglou, a retired orthopedic and trauma surgeon, took cost of the restoration. He labored intently with native builders and artisans and has develop into the de facto physician on Patmos which, like many Greek islands, solely has a small medical middle.
The couple tapped Leda Athanasopoulou, an inside designer who has renovated many historic homes on the island, to revamp the area in step with the couple’s imaginative and prescient.
They divided it into three massive bedrooms, renovated the loos and created widespread areas the place company can have breakfast, mingle over cocktails or gaze on the hills and horizon.
There’s even a spot to take heed to Kambouroglou’s massive assortment of vinyl data — Greek opera, classical and rock ’n’ roll — which he spins all 12 months spherical, says Lemos.
A bed room at Pagostas.
The music could also be his, however the refined, bohemian fashion is all hers. Pagostas is a spare, tranquil refuge straight out of an Homeric poem.
“Patmos may be very conventional, and you might be dwelling in a spot that belongs to the monastery. We needed to indicate a Greek lifestyle, and discover that cusp between custom and modernity,” says Lemos.
As well as, she requested herself, “’How can we stay with much less?’ Greece is about simplicity, in regards to the fundamentals — however these fundamentals must be fashionable,” she provides.
The bones of the constructing are authentic: there are stone partitions, vaulted archways, terracotta flooring tiles, and steep slate stairs. The loos are fashionable, and practically all of the homeware was made to order in Greece.
Sheets, linens and napkins have been woven by hand solely for Pagostas; the pottery was handmade by a trio of feminine artisans in Athens, and the glass was handblown in Crete. The silver cutlery is a uncommon exception — it’s from England.
“Pagostas will not be rustic — should you’re doing simplicity, the weather and the elements have to be fairly elevated,” says Lemos.
The inside designer sourced the furnishings from vintage markets in Athens, whereas different bits have been made domestically.
“After which there are a few touches which might be mine, just like the Bauhaus chandelier and a Swedish tapestry. They type of like throw you somewhat bit,” says Lemos. “They match completely, however are surprising.”
Design is in her DNA.
Lemos started her vogue profession working with John Galliano and Clements Ribeiro and later based London’s Rainbowwave showroom, which has been a launching pad for manufacturers together with JW Anderson, Marios Schwab and Carven. Ten years in the past she opened Mouki Mou, an idea retailer in London, and in Might she opened a second one in Athens.
Working with the panorama designer Helli Pangalou, Lemos and her husband planted jasmine within the courtyard and stuffed the walled backyard with plumbago, myrtle, and lemon timber.
The unique arches, stone hearth and beamed ceilings have been preserved at Pagostas.
The Naxos Apothecary, one in all Greece’s high perfume and private care manufacturers, provides the natural bathtub merchandise whereas Lemos labored together with her outdated pal — and fellow Londoner — Lyn Harris of Perfumer H on a bespoke candle.
The meals is native to the island.
Breakfast is likely to be brown bread with schinos (a sort of fragrant root) served with eggs, cheese, and yogurt. There are seasonal fruit juices, and jams that are made by Lemos’ mother-in-law from quinces, figs and different fruits. Honey is made with heather from the close by island of Lipsi.
Regardless of all of the onerous work, and the various journeys forwards and backwards throughout the European continent, Lemos is having fun with Pagostas as a lot as any of the company.
“Holidays have develop into completely different,” says Lemos, who spent New Yr’s on Patmos for the primary time this 12 months. “I in all probability had the perfect vacation of the 12 months in Patmos in January. This complete undertaking has taken me into a totally completely different context.”
The kitchen at Pagostas.
Lemos has been spending an growing period of time in Greece. As she and her husband set about reviving the guesthouse, Lemos took on one other undertaking: Opening a department of Mouki Mou in Athens in Might. Though Athens is her native metropolis, she had by no means completed enterprise there, and says it has been an journey.
Mouki Mou is positioned in a ’70s constructing within the historic neighborhood of Plaka and has a view of the Acropolis.
Lemos once more labored with inside designer Leda Athanasopoulou. She additionally created a planted backyard on the huge roof terrace, which she plans to make use of for events, exhibitions and occasions.
As with London, the shop affords clothes, jewellery and way of life, however is completely different in some ways. Lemos says Mouki Mou is the primary vogue idea retailer to land in Athens; the viewers is completely different from London, and the main target is extra on wardrobe constructing and introducing worldwide designers to the market.
Breakfast on the terrace.
“It’s about exposing the Athenian crowd, and likewise the worldwide crowd in Athens, to an array of designers and makers that they weren’t uncovered to earlier than. In London, we stocked Lemaire however I finished shopping for it as a result of now it’s in every single place. However that’s not the case in Athens, so we’re promoting Lemaire there,” says Lemos.
She’s additionally stocking the French clothes label Casey Casey for related causes, and needs to introduce the London-based Toogood, which affords clothes, ceramics and furnishings designed by the multidisciplinary inventive Faye Toogood.
“I’m studying in regards to the Greek clientele. Like London, it’s about constructing a loyal buyer, and we’re starting to do this in Athens. The shock was that we now have a global following — which I hadn’t anticipated,” says Lemos.
“They’re all coming via Athens in the summertime months — folks from Rainbowwave, Mouki Mou and Pagostas. The three are type of merging, and the traces are getting blurred,” says Lemos.
Her universe of fashion simply retains getting larger.
